Improved railway-switching- apparatus



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DANIEL PIKE, oFNnw ORLEANs, LouisiANA, AssleNon fro HIMsnLr, JOSHUA n. vosn, AND W. J. MCcULLoH, on sAMnrLAcn.

Letters Patent No. 91,663, dated June 22, 1869.

IMPROVED RAILWAY-SWITCHING- APPARATUS.

The Schedule referred to these Lettera Patent and making part di the lame.

Apparatus for Switching Railroad-Cars into Branch orI Divergent Tracks; and I- do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the annexed drawing, making `a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the ruiming gear and tloor of a car, with my apparatus attached thereto, and

Figure 2, a bottom view of the same.

The importance of having an apparatus on the cars of city-railroads, by which said ears may be switched into diverging tracks by the drivers, and thus to render the keeping-ot' a switch-tender at every intersection of' two or more tracks unnecessary,'has long been fully felt and appreciated bythe owners and managers of such roads; for it is not only expensive to provide switch-tenders, but it'has beenrshown by experience that it is impossible to procure men for this purpose w'ho will be constantly alert in the discharge of their duty, and that hence cars are frequently run upon the wrong track in passing an intersection, by reason of their failure to move the switch at the proper time.

\Vhen this happens, the car must be pushed back by hand, oftentimes with difficulty, and after much delay, not only to the car to which the accident has occurred, but to allthe others that have, meanwhile,

come up.

1t sometimes happens, in fact, that the whole arrangement of a city-railroad, with respect to the time of starting and running the cars on it, isfor a considerable period, `at least, completely interrupted, in consequence ofthe non or improper operation of the switch bythe switch-tender, andjthe running of a car on the `wrong track.

My invention is designed to remedy all these evils; and

It consists of an apparatus that is attached to, and therefore carried upon the car, and operated by the driver.

It is, moreover, very simple, of easy operation, and can be applied to any existing car, whatever may be its form or peculiarities of construction- I proceed now to describe its construction and operation, with reference to the drawing, in which thc same letters denote the same parts at all the iigures, j

A is a strong pendent-strap metallic bracket, that is fastened, by means of bolts 1, 2, 3,4, underneath the front extension of the-door of the car, that is commonly called the platform, near the front edge thereof', in order that it maybe as far ahead 'of the fore axle and wheels of the car as possible.

apparatus, to switch thevcar. This bar, in fact, is formed and placed about as shown on the drawing, and an inspection of the draw- The formation of this bracket is such that no lateral yielding can possibly take place, whilst the diagonal cross-braces B B hold it immovably against any longitudinalor oblique strain or pressure to which it may he subjected. l

A rod, 0,. passes perpendicularly through the platform of the car, and the centre 4of the horizontal section or part of the bracket A, `proper apertures being provided for the purpose, as clearly shown at iig. 1.

At its lower extremity, the rod C is bifurcated, in order to receive the fianched pulley, or wheel '1), between the jaws, or .arms a b. Y

To enable the driver to operate the rod C readily and with comfort to his foot, its length is calculated with reference to the height to which he may conveniently raise the same, and a cap, c, is fixed upon its upper end.

` To reinforce the .floor of the platform where the rod C passes-through it, a metal plate, Gr, is provided. of

any suitable form.

.To hold-the rod up whenever it is not pressed down y by Vthe'foot of the driver to switch his car, a spring, E, is secured thereto, at one of its ends, at the point marked 6, whilst its other end is fastened to the door ofthe ear,- by a screw or screw-bolt, 5. A

This spring is so arranged, as always to keep the enlarged part of the rod C, resulting from its division into therjaws a b,in contact with the bracket A, and, therefore, at its highest possible point of elevation, excepting when it is purposely .pressed down.

In the use of my a'pparatusa short bar, F, is necessary to its operation.

lihis bar is placed midway `between the rails of the track.l so as to overlap the intersection in both directions, and it is curved in such manner as to be precisely parallel tothe rails of the intersecting or branch l road, into which its function is, in connection with my ing will at once indicate the part performed by it in the practice or actual use of my invention; for, if we suppose that the car there delineated is to be taken,v

for example, upon the diverging-branch track H, it will be perceivedthat all that is necessary to effect that object is, for the driver to put his foot on the cap c, and press down the rod U until the Hauch on wheel D comes in contact with bar F, as shown 'at iig. 1, when the lateral pressure against said Hauch, which is induced by the curvature of the said bar, will force the car into the said track. v

The moment the fore wheels pass the intersection, the driver releases the bar C, which is instantly thrown up, by the action of the spring E, into its normal position of elevation.

scribed my invention,

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 'he bracket A, when supported by the cross-braces B B', in combination wit-h the rod O, whenconstrncted as herein described, and provided with the flanched wheel D, and sustained, at its highest point of e1evation, bythe spring E, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

DANIEL PIKE.

Witnesses:

H. N. JENKINS, WM. A. J ORDAN. 

